


Shouldn't Be Here

by Somniare



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Crack, Gen, Let's leave it at that, Lewis Frightfest 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-28 22:22:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5107781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somniare/pseuds/Somniare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>James followed the line of their gaze.  His head slowly tilted as an unexpectedly familiar yet foreign shadow appeared along the rear wall.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Shouldn’t be here,” he muttered.  “Can’t be here.”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shouldn't Be Here

**Author's Note:**

> My deepest thanks to barcardivodka for providing background about the Museum of Natural History and the streets of Oxford, including taking two videos to give me a better idea of the lay of the land. Her help was invaluable. 
> 
> Thank you, hun. *mwahz* We’ll walk those streets together in 2017!
> 
> I have tinkered with it quite a bit since it came back from beta. All errors, etc., are all mine.

 

* * *

 

DS James Hathaway bounced on the balls of his feet as he sheltered in the doorway of the Museum of Natural History.  He looked impatiently up and down Parks Road, or at least as far as he could see from his vantage point.  November was still a week and a bit away, but winter was already making itself known.  Only the diehard morning joggers and walkers and a few determined tourists appeared to have ventured outside on this chilled, wet, miserable Wednesday.  Even the road traffic appeared to be down to buses, taxis, delivery trucks, and a handful of cyclists.  On the plus side, it had made for a quick trip to the museum.

The crunch of tyres on stone pulled Hathaway back from his musing.  He walked briskly from the doorway, umbrella aloft, to where DI Robbie Lewis had managed to find a spot to park his car on the south side of the museum.  When James had arrived thirty minutes earlier, activity outside the museum had forced him along the narrow roadway in front of the building, where he’d had to leave his car parked a few feet from the steel bollards that blocked any further progress.  As there wasn’t enough room to turn the car around, he was faced with the prospect of reversing all the way back to the road once they were done; it would be a bloody nuisance.  Cutting across the grass, James gave a passing glance to the water-filled cast dinosaur footprints embedded across its width.  As a child, he’d been fascinated by the idea ‘monsters’ had once roamed across Oxfordshire.  As an adult, he was less enamoured of the true monsters out there.

With a nod of greeting, Lewis ducked under the umbrella with James.

“So, what do we know so far, sergeant?”

“Simon Rose, a DPhil candidate in Vertebrate Palaeontology, was found dead behind the locked door of one of the upper gallery offices.”  He heard Lewis huff quietly and felt a nudge on his arm.

“I knew the dead part, James; duty sergeant did mention it.”  James bowed his head in a half-nod as Lewis continued.  “Dead, how?  Shot, stabbed, poisoned?”

James paused in the entryway and folded the umbrella, leaning it against the wall to drip.  He had seen the body and closed his eyes at the memory.  “Mutilated,” he murmured, hoping Lewis wouldn’t want him to provide details.

“Mutilated?”

James gave a sharp nod.  “You’ll see.”  He started walking again, marching past the welcome desk, and heading for the stone staircase.  As he started up the steps, he thought he heard Lewis mutter, “Bloody Oxford; never simple.”

Lewis caught up with him on the landing.  “If the door was locked, who found him?”

“His tutor, Anthony Nichols.  According to Nichols, he and Rose had a meeting arranged for 11am to review the findings from a recent dig.  He arrived at ten, went up to the office, unlocked it, and found Rose lying in the middle of the floor.”

“So Nichols had his own key?”

“Yes.  It’s been taken into evidence.”

“Anyone else have a key?”

“That’s still to be ascertained.”  James continued on quickly.  “SOCO cleared the area of the room around the victim shortly before you arrived; Dr Hobson’s examining the body as we speak.”

At the top of the stairs, crime scene tape cordoned off the café, and a constable was standing guard halfway along the gallery.  James held the tape up for Lewis, before ducking under himself.  He gestured for Lewis to follow him and walked to the balcony opposite the constable.  James pointed out a group of people gathered to one side of the _Iguanodon_ skeleton.

“That’s everyone who was inside the museum at the time the body was discovered, including Nichols.  DC Lockhart and Constable Baines are taking details and DC Hooper is supposed to be chasing up information on keys.”  However, Hooper had his back to the group and the _Iguanodon_.  He was staring up at the massive _Tyrannosaur_ skeleton with his mouth hanging open.  James cleared his throat loudly, the sound carrying easily through the near-silent main court.  Hooper looked around at the noise.  His jaw snapped shut when he saw Lewis beside James, and he turned his back to them as he focused on the group.  James sighed.

“Don’t worry about him, James,” Lewis said.  “The man can be a complete arse sometimes.  Anyone’d think he’d never been inside the museum before.”

“He hasn’t,” James muttered, leaning heavily against the stone balustrade.  “He told me.  His face lit up like an excited schoolboy as he walked around the floor.”

Lewis’s eyes widened in disbelief.  “Never?  The man’s been in Oxford for over twenty years.”

“Never.”

Lewis shook his head.  “Go on,” he prompted.  “Lockhart and Baines are taking details, then what?”

“The members of the public will be free to go, but the staff will have to be formally questioned as soon as possible.”

“You think one of the staff killed Rose?”

James looked over his shoulder at Lewis.  “I don’t think any one of the people in this building was responsible, but one of the staff might have seen…something.”

“Oh?”  Lewis gave him a baffled frown.

James was unwilling to explain further.  It was purely a gut feeling, a hope someone on staff had yet to understand the significance of something they’d seen or overheard.  He pushed off the balustrade, twisted around to face Lewis, and then waved towards the open door beyond the constable.  Lewis accepted the cue, nodded to the officer as he walked past him, and entered the room.

James took a steadying breath before following.  He stopped a short way into the room, reluctant to look at the remains of Simon Rose again.  He watched Lewis instead.  Lewis’s step stuttered when he saw the body and he had to steady himself before he crouched down beside Laura.

“Bloody hell.”  Lewis’s voice carried the horror James had felt when he’d first seen the three deep slashes across the victim's throat and chest.  Only the spine held the body together.  The shredded remains of Rose’s once grey jumper were stained deep red, as were large areas of the rug underneath him.  “Laura?”

“Robbie.”  She didn’t look at him.  James had seen her shocked response when she had first arrived, and she still hadn’t recovered her usual composure.  It was the first time James had seen Laura’s hands shake over a body, as she pointed out the injuries to Lewis.  “The first wound severed the carotid artery and jugular vein, the second and third sliced through the lungs, heart, and liver.  He would have died within seconds.”

“But he wasn’t killed here, was he?  There’s no spray…spatter…cast-off…whichever.”

Laura shook her head.  “No, I don’t believe he was.  There’s certainly no visible cast off from a weapon.”

“What kind of weapon could do that?” Lewis asked.  James was more concerned about the kind of person who could inflict such catastrophic injuries.

“Wolverine,” Laura replied flatly.

“Wolverines aren’t native to England,” James began, his brain automatically supplying the facts, “and even if we–”

“The Hugh Jackman type, James.”  Laura rose to her feet.  “Not the four-legged–”  She frowned and looked upwards as the rumble and crack of thunder rolled through the open door.  “Forecast didn’t mention thunderstorms.”

Before James could respond, the distinct sound of shattering glass was accompanied by the sickening crunch of something heavy hitting an immovable object.

Lewis was on his feet and heading for the door.  He held up one hand.  “James, with me; everyone else, stay here.”

Running to the balustrade, the first thing James noticed was the small group on the ground floor slowly creeping backwards as one.  They recoiled sharply at another great crash, striking the tall display case behind them.  Ripples of light danced across the glass surfaces.  No one made a sound.  All were looking in the direction of the Pitt Rivers Museum.

James followed the line of their gaze.  His head slowly tilted as an unexpectedly familiar yet foreign shadow appeared along the rear wall.

“Shouldn’t be here,” he muttered.  “Can’t be here.” _Was here once,_ his brain unhelpfully reminded him.

An unearthly bellow merged with more sounds of destruction.  Scraping and clicking on the tiled floor sent a chill through James.  The shadow was replaced by its creator.

James swiped his hands over his eyes in disbelief.  The head had to be at least a metre in length.  Black stripes wrapped around its face and neck, and even at that distance, James could see the teeth.  His eyes followed the line down along the creature’s neck as it stepped from the gallery onto the main floor.  His eyes fixed on the lethal looking claws on its feet.

Lewis swore quietly.  “Is that a…?”

“Dinosaur?  Yes.  _Megalosaurus_ , to be precise.”  James was awestruck by the creature.  Here was the ‘monster’ that belonged to the footprints that had captured his young imagination.  It stood still, sniffing the air, its head swaying and bobbing gracefully.

“OhmyGod.”  James turned at the whispered exclamation.  Laura stood at his side.  “Those claws,” she murmured.  “They look like they could tear a man apart.  Like Rose.”  Her voice petered out to nothing.  Looking dazed, she backed slowly away from James.

James stayed where he was.  He watched the tableau below and considered their options.  For now, neither beast nor humans were moving.  Behind him, Lewis quietly ordered everyone back into the room.

“Lock and barricade the door.  Even if that thing figures out how to get up the stairs, it’s too big to get through these doorways but better to be safe than sorry.”

“What about you two?  What are you going to do?”  From Laura’s concerned tone, she’d already guessed.

“We have to try to get those people down there out of harm’s way, and get that…that…thing… trapped.  Laura, call the station – not 999; try to get Innocent.  Tell her what’s going on.”

“Tell her what?  That there’s a bloody live dinosaur roaming around the museum?  She’ll think I’ve lost my mind!”

“If anyone can make her believe, you can.  Please, Laura.  Once those people are safe, James or I will call her as well.  She’ll have to believe one of us.”

The door clicked shut, followed by the muffled sound of a heavy object being dragged across the stone floor.  Then James felt Lewis at his shoulder.

“Ideas, James?” Lewis murmured.

“There’s no guarantee any of the office doors are unlocked and there’s nowhere else down there they could hide.  They’ll have to make a run for the entrance.”

“If they run, will that thing chase them?”

James exhaled slowly.  “I think we’re about to find out.”  The dinosaur had taken two steps further into the main court and was now staring at the huddled group.  The display cabinet behind them began to rock alarmingly.

The creature bellowed again, opening its jaws wide.  The group cried out in terror.  James froze, and Lewis’s hand clamped around his forearm.

Hooper was the first to break ranks, running for the entrance as fast as he could.  Julie Lockhart spread her arms wide and pushed, shepherding as many people as she could towards the door.  The dinosaur rushed towards the runners and collided heavily with the _Iguanodon_ , bringing the skeleton clattering down.  Julie stumbled forward as part of the skull struck her in the back, and she was lifted to her feet by one of the women in the group.  James pulled away from Lewis and bolted for the stairs.

Lewis’s footsteps followed him down the steps and along the ground floor gallery to the Welcome Desk, where James paused.  The _Megalosaurus_ was stumbling over the bones of its relative.  At ground level, it was massive, magnificent, and bloody terrifying.  Even when it fell onto its side, it was no less awe-inspiring.  James started when Lewis grabbed his arm from behind and pushed him forward.

“The door, James,” Lewis whispered urgently.

James turned and saw the danger.  In their rush to escape, the fleeing group had jammed themselves in the doorway.  Julie was doing her best to move them on, but Hooper was nowhere to be seen.  Lewis and James worked frantically with Julie to clear the blockage, pulling and pushing at people to create a gap.  James glanced over his shoulder, expecting to feel the creature’s breath on his back at any moment.  It was still on its side, struggling.  James wasn’t sure, but it looked as though it had caught its forearm between the _Iguanadon_ ’s ribs.It would give them valuable time.

With a startled yelp, James fell forward onto his knees as the group suddenly spilled through the door.  Lewis grabbed his arms and lifted him to his feet.  James let Lewis push him through the door.  He heard the heavy slam of the door closing.

“Fucking hell!”  James flung his arm across his eyes at the unexpected burst of light.  The action threw off his balance, and he stumbled.  An arm wrapped around James’s waist and steadied him.

“C’mon!” Lewis grunted.

James lowered his arm and looked around as he followed Lewis towards the car.  He couldn’t take in what he was seeing.  The day had completely changed.  The sun was beating down and the air was steaming as the intense heat evaporated the numerous puddles.  The road and footpath, which had been almost abandoned, were now crowded as if at the height of summer.  The others who had fled the museum were nowhere to be seen; that included Hooper and Julie. 

“Get on the phone.”  Lewis opened his car door as James walked around to the passenger side.  “Let them know that thing’s trapped.  Where’d it come from, anyway?  Wasn’t the museum cleared?”

James was confounded.  “It was.  Julie and I did a sweep.”  He pulled his phone from his pocket but couldn’t keep his thumb steady enough for Touch ID to unlock it.  _It’s adrenalin_. _Epinephrine.  Making my hands shake._ That was what he told himself.  He tried his passcode instead.

“Well, that thing didn’t come out of thin bloody air!” Lewis said emphatically.  James couldn’t argue with him.  He swore as he entered his passcode incorrectly for the second time.  He looked up when Lewis huffed.  Lewis frowned and then sharply swivelled his head around, first left and then right, covering a full circle.  He pointed at an adjacent vehicle.  “Where are Julie and Hooper?”

“I’m here, sir.”  The small, shaky voice came from the front of the car.  Julie rose unsteadily and started to hobble towards Lewis.  She cradled one arm close to her body.

Lewis hurried towards her.  “What have you done, lass?”

“The dinosaur footprints, sir.  I stepped in one and twisted my ankle and fell; I couldn’t keep up with the others, so I hid.”

James gasped in relief as he finally unlocked his phone.  He found Innocent’s number in his favourites and tapped the call icon.  Behind him, the museum was quiet.  If they could get a response team out here quickly, there was a chance they could contain the dinosaur without any further danger to the public.

Dinosaur.  James shook his head slightly.  It was surreal.  He held his phone to his ear, willing Innocent to answer.

Lewis opened the back door of the car and helped Julie inside.  James was no doctor, but even he could see the bruising that suggested Julie had seriously hurt her wrist.

“Did you see where everyone else went?” Lewis asked Julie gently.

“Some went up Parks Road, others to Keble College, sir.”  Julie gasped in pain when Lewis leaned over to fasten the seatbelt for her.

James winced in sympathy.  His call went to Innocent’s voicemail.  He swore softly.

Behind them, glass shattered and wood snapped.  James spun around to see the creature’s massive head pushing through the hole it had punched through the door.  He stared in disbelief as the structure began to bow under the animal’s straining.

On the street, people were beginning to notice what was going on.  There were a few cries of disbelief, but, thankfully, James thought, no-one screamed.  A small group stood by the low wall, pointing.  James prayed they’d move on.

“How long do you think that’ll hold?” Lewis asked, staring wide-eyed at the spectacle.

“Do you want to wait to find out?”

“Not on your bloody life.  Get in!”

“No!  I’ll take my car.  Get Julie out of here – she needs a doctor.  One of us should stay to report on what’s happening.  At least until that thing’s taken down.”

“Taken down?”  Lewis stared wildly at him.  “Do you see an armed response team, James?  We have no idea when or if anyone’s coming.  We have to get away and get teams in here to get the streets cleared.  Now!”

“I know.”  James took a deep breath to steady his thoughts.  “It’ll take time for backup to arrive and someone needs to stay here to provide current information on the changing situation.  Look.”  He glanced back at the museum.  “The door might hold, and if Laura’s managed to convince Innocent she’s not mad, the response teams could be on their way now.”  James didn’t believe a word of it – nor, he suspected, did Lewis – but there was little point in all of them staying in harm’s way.  He needed to convince Lewis to get Julie, and, therefore, himself, to safety.  “You go.  I’ll keep trying to get through to Innocent.  If it gets out, I’ll leave immediately.”  _If I can,_ he thought.  “It should give you and Julie more than enough time to get away.”

“James, I’m not leaving–”

“Do you have a better idea?  Sir.”  James looked at the creature.  It shook itself furiously from side to side, sending shards of wood bouncing off the surrounding stonework.  “Go.  Please.”  The dinosaur bellowed and they turned to see it retreat back inside the building.  “Please, sir.”  James looked at him earnestly.  “Robbie.  Julie’s not able to drive herself out of here.  Not with that wrist.”

Lewis looked like he was going to argue, but then he gave Julie his phone.  He stabbed his forefinger at James.  “I want to know you’re safe.  Call or message me once you’re away from here.”  Then he reluctantly got into the car and drove away without a backward glance.  James was convinced it was only the sound of Julie’s quiet moans that had finally persuaded him.

James watched Lewis and Julie disappear up Museum Road, blues and twos clearing a path.  A few heads turned to see what was happening, but, for the most part, people continued on with their business, moving along the street, avoiding eye and physical contact.  James jogged over to his car, keeping one eye on the museum door.  He noticed the audience that had gathered by the wall had oddly disappeared, much as the creature had for the moment.  He was torn between pleased and perplexed.  If the _Megalosaurus_ was to make another run at the weakened door and escape – and it would.  James doubted the structure could survive many more blows – it now meant fewer people immediately in harm’s way.   _But where the bloody hell had they all gone?_

He shook his head roughly, as much in frustration as to clear his thoughts.  “Innocent,” he huffed and tapped at his phone with still unsteady fingers.  Before the call could connect, his phone beeped with an incoming message.  It was from Laura.  James blinked in disbelief.

_//Jean believed me.  Backup on the way.  Be careful.  L//_

He read the message three times.  Reasonably confident Laura would have sent the same message to Lewis, James allowed himself to feel some momentary relief.

With a screech of brakes, two area cars arrived on Parks Road, parking in such a way as to effectively barricade the road to traffic.  From a van that pulled up behind them appeared members of the Major Disorder Squad and the Firearms Response Team.  James rubbed his eyes and looked again.  He hadn’t imagined it.

“Damn, that was quick,” he muttered.

The specialist officers spread out.  Four ran past James, heading for the Museum entrance, and the rest ran down Parks Road.  Half of the second group peeled off up Museum Road, gathering up civilians as they went; the remainder continued out of sight, following the wall of Trinity Gardens towards Broad Street.  James counted five uniformed officers exit the area cars and stand behind them.  All appeared to be seasoned officers – there wasn’t a babyface amongst them – and James was both discomforted and calmed to see they were also armed.

James’s phone beeped again.  Lewis.

_//Sir says to get out now, sir//_

James blinked in bewilderment then snorted softly: Julie.  James was in no doubt Julie had heavily edited Lewis’s order.  He had been subjected to Lewis’s anger born of fear for James’s safety on several occasions and had more than a fair idea of what Lewis would have actually said.  With the, hopefully, appropriately trained officers now on the scene, it was an order James was prepared to obey without quibbling.

A crash and a cry had him spinning on his heel.  The dinosaur was back.  The renewed charge had more than doubled the size of the hole in the door.  One of the Firearms team successfully hit the monster with a Taser, which only succeeded in enraging the animal further.  It thrashed its head and neck, further decimating the inadequate barrier.

James cracked his knee hard against the steering wheel in his haste to get into the shelter of his car, causing him to drop his phone on the passenger seat.  Part of his brain noted with curiosity that his body’s response to the unfolding events numbed the pain; his sense of self-preservation had him digging frantically in his pocket for the car keys.  He had greater success retrieving his keys and slotting the correct one into the ignition than he had had with unlocking his phone.  Muscle memory was a wonderful thing sometimes.  He started the engine, put the car into gear and…

The tyres spun uselessly.

“Fuck.”

He moved to release the handbrake and glanced in the rear view mirror.  He wished he hadn’t.  With a roar and final violent thrust, the dinosaur propelled itself through the door.  It staggered for a few paces and James prayed it would fall.  It used its momentum and turned on the Firearms team.

“Fall back!  Fall back!”  The cry rose from several voices at once.  James froze, his eyes locked on the mirror.  If he reversed now he would be heading straight for those powerful jaws.  He also risked running down one of the officers.  Perhaps they could deflect it away or bring it down.  Perhaps if he didn’t move, the dinosaur wouldn’t notice him.  Maybe it would run past him.  Maybe pigs would fly.

James was distracted by movement at the edge of his peripheral vision.  He thought something had rushed past the car and down the driveway.  He was leaning forward in his seat in an effort to see as far as he could when the front of the car tipped upwards with a sickening crunch. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Everything slowed down around him.  The rear view mirror revealed an expanse of greyish-green leathery skin.  The wing mirror showed a similar scene.  The creature had landed on its side on the car boot.  The Firearms Team, minus one who lay slumped by the museum’s entrance, had circled around and regrouped and its members were approaching cautiously with weapons raised.  The dinosaur was trapped between James’s car and the armed officers.

“Not good.  Not fucking good at all,” James said breathlessly.  He twisted around in his seat to get a better perspective.  One of the armed officers signalled him to get away.  Easier said than done with several tonnes of reptile holding you in place and three steel bollards in front of you.  _You were a fucking idiot parking here, Hathaway._

As he continued to watch, another Taser was fired, and the dinosaur rolled off the car with a furious cry.  The ground shook as its massive body struck the ground.

Time snapped back to normal.

James released the handbrake, turned the steering wheel sharply, and deftly manoeuvred his car between the left-hand bollard and a bench fixed in the grass.  In the rear view mirror, the dinosaur wobbled to its feet.  Up ahead, a row of park vehicles stood between James and the nearest exit.  He spotted a gap at the end, between a Corsa and the low wall, and steered the car towards it.  His wheels slipped on the grass, and he had to shift his grip on the steering wheel to avoid having it torn from his hands as he bounced over the embedded dinosaur footprints.

The window on the passenger side exploded, spraying James with cubes of shattered safety glass.  The dinosaur’s snout was reflected in the wing mirror.

 _Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear._   It was like that bloody scene from _Jurassic Park_ , but this was no movie.

James wrenched the wheel to the right, forcing the car through the gap.  He nearly lost control when the dinosaur stumbled and struck his car again, and he clipped the wall in his desperate attempt to escape.  With Parks Road blocked to his right, James had no choice but to sharply steer the car around to the left in a tight, reckless u-turn.  The rear of the car took out the parking sign, and he narrowly missed striking the concrete bollard at the roadside, but he was pointing in the right direction.  The dinosaur roared as it hit the ground.

James doubted it would stay down for long.  He determined his best chance would be to head towards the crossroads at Broad and Holywell Streets.  If he was lucky, he might be able to get far enough ahead of the beast to run to the safety of shelter beyond the walled gardens of Wadham and Trinity.

He’d gone barely fifty metres when the sun disappeared and the car filled with shadows.  The dinosaur had recovered quicker than James had anticipated and was now running beside the car.  It lowered its head as it kept pace, completely blocking James’s view to the left.  He pushed the accelerator as far as he dared, suddenly all too aware of the narrowness of the gap between the abandoned vehicles on both sides of the road in front of him.  That there were no people in sight was a small mercy.

James whipped the car to the right of an empty taxi.  Instead of running around the other side of the stationary obstacle, the dinosaur pulled back and followed James.  He had a short clear run until he drew level with the cottages at the northern end of Wadham College.  Here, a bus and a small van completely blocked the road, forcing James to go onto the footpath to get around.  The manoeuvre cost him valuable seconds and he lost the small lead he’d gained.  The dinosaur struck the rear of the car again.  James veered back to the road, sideswiping a car.  He glanced in his wing mirror.  The dinosaur was coming up on his right, and James gasped in horror as it threw its body against the car, propelling the vehicle into a too narrow gap between yet another car and a tree.

As though from a distance, James saw himself acting on pure reflex and instinct.  He didn’t appear to have been injured in the crash, despite the best efforts of dinosaur and airbag.  The car shook as the creature repeatedly struck it from behind, roaring in frustration.  _Adrenaline.  Fight or flight._ All his reading and theoretical knowledge hadn’t sufficiently prepared James for the reality of this moment.  With the dinosaur no more than two metres from James’s door, a quick escape that was wasn’t an option.  James clambered awkwardly out of his seat, cursing his height under his breath, and crossed over to the passenger side.  He snatched up his phone from where it had fallen to the floor.  The dinosaur continued to batter the car.

Through gritted teeth, James murmured, “One, two, three.”  He threw open the passenger door and fled for the uncertain shelter of a red phone box a few feet away.  He couldn’t stay in the car, nor could he outrun the dinosaur, and it was the closest enclosed space.  He curled himself into as tight a ball as possible on the floor of the small space.  Behind him, the creature roared.  James’s hands shook uncontrollably as he tried to call Lewis.  He swore when he dropped the phone in the tight gap between his knees and his chest.  That was when he became aware of the silence around him.

Slowly, he turned his head to look over his shoulder.  One large eye stared back.  James didn’t even have time to take a breath to scream before the massive lizard crashed against the box.  For the second time, cubes of shattered glass rained down on James, who tucked his head between his knees and covered his head in an attempt to protect himself.  There was nothing else he could do.

He screamed in terror when his shoulder was seized.

“Buggering hell!”  The voice came from beside him.

 _Robbie?  No!  He can't be here.  He’s supposed to be safe!_   James heaved a deep breath.  “Get out!  Run!  Save yourself!” he gasped out.  The beast now had James by both arms, shaking him roughly.

“James!  For God's sake, wake up man!”

James threw himself sideways and landed on his hands and knees.  He almost cried out in relief when he found himself free, then he remembered the dinosaur.  He shot to his feet as well as his shaking legs would let him, only to find himself looking directly into Lewis’s eyes.  He grabbed Lewis’s wrist and tried to pull him away from danger.

Lewis gripped James’s forearm and held him steady.  “What on earth are you doing, man?”

James scanned the area behind Lewis, not taking in anything he saw.  “Where's Julie?  Is she safe?”  He was baffled by Lewis’s scowl.

“Julie?  You're not making any sense, James, lad.  Safe from what?”

“The dinosaur!  Don't you remember?  At the Museum of Natural History?  The body.  The...the...the...”  James looked slowly around, seeing Lewis’s living room and not the shattered remains of a telephone box on Parks Road.

Disoriented, James dropped onto the couch.  On the telly, Ellie Harrison was encouraging viewers to go searching for dinosaurs as she drove along a farm track past a small herd of cows.  James half-expected one of the bovines to vanish in a spray of gore.  An almost empty bottle of Jägermeister and two glasses sat on the coffee table.  Fragments of the evening started to come back to James.

He and Lewis had planned a quiet night in.  They'd decided to work their way through the contents of Lewis's DVR and finally catch up with several programs and documentaries.  One beer had led to a shared bottle of wine, a slightly dubious Indian takeaway delivered shortly after10pm, and the Jägermeister, a thank-you gift from Lewis's new neighbour, whom they had helped move in the weekend before.

Lewis sat beside him.  “Want to tell me what’s going on up here?”  He gently tapped James’s temple.

James sank into the couch and the awful nightmare poured out of him.  When it was done, he expected Lewis to laugh at him, at the very least.  Instead, he was met with the shaking of Lewis’s head and a rueful smile.

“That’s the last bloody time I let you watch dinosaurs when you've had a skinful,” Lewis said kindly.

“It was so real,” James whispered.  Despite the obvious impossibility of it all, James’s experience had left him very on edge.  Or perhaps it was the Jägermeister.

Lewis gently laid his hand on James's arm.  “I’m away to me bed.  Are you going to be all right out here by yourself?”

He wasn't taking the piss, for which James was grateful.  “Um, yeah,” James nodded, as much to reassure himself as Lewis.

“You want me to leave a bucket by the couch?  You know, just in case?”

James considered his state.  “Might not be a bad idea.  I'm likely to go headfirst into the wall if I have to make a run for the bath–”

The floor shook beneath them.  Out on the street, a man screamed.

A prehistoric silhouette filled the front window and James felt Lewis stiffen beside him.  James was unable to move.

The window imploded.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by scenes from ITV’s Dinosaur Britain Part 1. Watch [ here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG5iydU4QPY) from approximately 13:10 to 18:25.
> 
> Part 2 is available [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1gNmJ60rqY)


End file.
